The present invention relates to a guiding link bearing system for a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle in which an elastic link bearing is supported at a carrier of the body structure of the vehicle.
From German Published Unexamined patent application No. 3,441,560, a vertical link bearing is known that is held via a bearing bracket reaching under the bearing, is connected with it via a screw and is fastened in a weld nut held on the side of the carrier. The bearing is held at the bearing bracket at a distance from the carrier, so that the remaining space is bridged by an end part of the elastic bearing sleeve that supports itself at the carrier. In this design, a constructively costly bearing holding means is required in order to absorb forces affecting the bearing that, in addition to the fixing via the screw at the carrier, requires the bearing bracket. As a result of the space that has to remain, the securing screw, during assembly, cannot be screwed in to the stop but only to a limited extent. This requires a measuring of the space that must remain. It is also a disadvantage in the case of this type of construction that as a result of the not rigidly limited threading depth, the elastic element is easily deformed and a desired bearing characteristic is no longer ensured.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a guiding link bearing system in which a direct introduction of force into the side member or carrier is ensured, and the link bearing is easily mountable from the direction of the underside of the vehicle.
This and other objectives are achieved in the present invention by providing a guiding link bearing arrangement with supporting arm means having a free lower end, this supporting arm means being fastened at upper and lower walls of the carrier. These upper and lower walls are separated a distance from one another, and the elastic link bearing is held at the free lower end.
The main advantages achieved by means of the invention are that the bearing can be easily placed at or fitted onto the supporting arm. A fixing takes place by a screw or by a nut without the distortion of the elastic element and thus a disadvantageous change of the bearing characteristic. This is possible because of the bush clamped in between the collar and the rebound plate. The fixing of the bearing via the screw at the carrier takes place without measurements, which have been hitherto required in the state of the art, because a space between the carrier and the bearing should be maintained in a certain manner in order to ensure a desired characteristic of the elastic element.
It is also an advantage of the present invention that forces affecting the bearing via the supporting arm are introduced directly into the carrier of the body structure of the vehicle. In this case, the double fastening, once in the upper carrier wall and once in the lower carrier wall, results in a relatively large support base. Thus, transverse and longitudinal forces are optimally absorbable and introduceable into the carrier without a tilting of the bearing.
The supporting arm for the fastening in the carrier is fitted from below into the openings and is fastened in these openings by a weld. So that for a carrier having a diagonally extending lower wall, a supporting is possible that is located in a horizontal plane, a bearing support is fastened at the carrier with a horizontal support surface that will then form a corresponding support for the collar of the supporting arm.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the collar of the supporting arm has longitudinal grooves having the same axes into which corresponding projections of the bush engage so that in longitudinal direction, a frictionally engaged connection and in transverse direction, a form-fitting connection is created between the supporting arm and the bush.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.